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IN MALAYSIA “SEMUA BOLEH” (Everything Is Possible)

20 August, 2007

I received an email from this good friend of mine Hj Mokhtar Stork. So I’d like to share with you what he has to say about our beloved country. A country that seems to be able to do just about anything under the sun. Malaysia wants to be as famous and popular as any other developed nation but somehow or other things just do not quite work out as it should be.

If we were to compare with our close neighbours like Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, they do not bother so much of becoming a famous and popular nation but they like to be a great nation.

These neighbours do not have buildings and bridges amongst the tallest and the longest in the world, an F1 racing circuit but yet could still be a better country than Malaysia in certain aspects whether we like it or not.

These neighbouring countries are good in setting the correct priorities for the people than to spend huge sums of money in building structures that could put their countries in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The integrity and credibility of our country is questionable which can be seen by the rampant practice of corruption both in the government departments and the private sectors. A good and classic example was when one of the politicians had built an 8 million ringgit mansion where his monthly income would take more than 95 years to reach that figure. Malaysia is way below the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) list at the 44th position in 2006.

The current state of Malaysia is not good. It depicts a deteriorating state of security and safety, where law and order seems a joke. The recent killing of an MCA Youth leader in broad daylight highlights the need for tighter security at our borders, to contain the influx of arms into the country.

Society on the whole is becoming insecure as a result of countless unaccounted murders, one of which has reached international status involving a Mongolian woman. This is not all, the recent bus tragedy where the driver and around 20 passengers were killed, reflects a lack of direction, implementation, commitment and enforcement. The response can be compared to ‘fireworks’ where everyone suddenly wakes up only to fall asleep later when things subside. The Nuri helicopter issue is a good example, where life is cheap.

Some time back “Mat Rempit” hit the headlines. Can you imagine a group of miscreants storming a police station being treated to an parachute stint. One wonders whether our brains lie in our heads or are they placed in our asses?

Recently, we had a Malaysian Chinese student at a Taiwan University insulting Muslim women over the ‘hijab’, abused our National Anthem, insulted the Malays etc, only to receive a response that nothing can be done about it. This was later changed when it was discovered he was a Malaysian, and when the MCA presented his apology, we are supposed to accept his apology and wait for the law to take its course.

Our patriotism and nationalism is a joke. Everyday someone has to bla bla bla about society not hoisting the Malaysian flag. Where was our “perpaduan” (unity) when it came to the Malaysian flag and Muslims being abused? Apart for a Malay and Indian Muslim organisation, not a single other ethnic organisation or political party came out with strong words when the issue exploded on the scene. What happened to inter-faith when Muslims were abused?

In Malaysia, everything is possible. If you have the money, power and position, you can kill a person, then pay the family some money, and send an appeal to the Agong for clemency. If you are charged, it probably will end up as it does in Indonesia or the Philippines.

This total breakdown in our system has made graft and corruption a culture in this country. In some states, politicians were found to be working hand in hand with gangsters. Even the police was involved. And when you view daily news reports it becomes frightening, with police and prison personnel being dismissed for a variety of offences. They should have been jailed.

Our ingenuity to generate more forms of money making goes our imagination. For the sake of tourism, we offer multiple visas for almost everyone to come here. This brings in a flood of poverty-stricken Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indonesians etc, who have nothing to do with tourism, but end up overstaying, working illegally, committing crime etc. They are rounded up and placed in detention centers and later deported. The money spent which is taxpayer’s money to handle this issue most probably surpasses the amount of money made through cheap tourism packages. What kind of business is this?

Programs like “Siasat” and “90 Minit” highlight the total breakdown in the law; and the lack of respect for those who run it, because they regrettably have failed to gain the respect of society.

As a Muslim (a convert), I find it amusing the so much political emphasis is place by one Muslim leadership against another Muslim leadership (Kelantan) while Penang is lost? May Allah have mercy on us, because one of these day, the price to pay for certain comforts is going to cause the loss of this land to the ungodly.

Malaysians ought to rethink their approach to life if they want a better future. If this is the way we are going to live, we could end up like America, where everybody feels that he has the right to do whatever he wants regardless of the law. This is not the Malaysia which we once knew.

So as an ordinary citizen, I just cannot imagine why our leaders are not sincerely and truly addressing this issues which have been with us for umpteen years since they hold power to rule and administer this country.